Ahead of this year’s Goal 50, we want to know who you think was the best attacking player during the 2012-13 season
POLL
The latest Goal 50 for 2012-13 is fast approaching as we review the best players from all regions of the world over the previous season.
This is the sixth edition of the prize, which has previously been won by current holder Cristiano Ronaldo (twice), Barcelona star Lionel Messi (twice) and Wesley Sneijder in 2010.
As part of the build-up to this year’s gong, we are running a series of polls asking readers to vote for their own best players in each position for what should be an intriguing debate.
After moving through your selections for goalkeeper, defender and midfielder we now put forward a number of high-profile candidates who can lay claim to having been the best forward in the world game over the last 12 months.
The obvious candidates are Messi and Ronaldo, who again enjoyed sensational individual seasons for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. The Argentine scored 60 goals in 50 games, while his Portuguese rival netted 55 times in as many appearances.
However, they are rivalled by Mario Mandzukic and Robert Lewandowski, who both enjoyed prolific campaigns for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund en route to the Champions League final.
Radamel Falcao’s superb form for Atletico Madrid helped them to third place in La Liga and a Copa del Rey triumph before his move to Monaco, where he will come up against Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was influential in Paris Saint-Germain’s successful campaign to become champions of France.
Robin van Persie’s form after moving to Manchester United from Arsenal was exceptional, while Luis Suarez was another standout striker in the Premier League for Liverpool.
In Italy, Mario Balotelli enjoyed a great spell in front of goal after joining AC Milan from Manchester City, while Edinson Cavani was a prolific frontman for Napoli as they finished second in Serie A.
HAVE YOUR SAY
In total we have 20 forward players up for your vote to decide on the best midfielder for the 2012-13 season. Let us know your thoughts by voting in our poll and leaving your comments below. You can also get in touch via our Facebook and Twitter pages.